What would you do?

[redalert]

Last week I made a weizenbock using Safale-S33. My OG was 1.069. Fermentation has halted so I racked to a clearing carboy (secondary). My FG reading reads 1.023 (6% abv) (65% attenuation) which is a little more than I wanted. The beer tastes overly sweet in my opinion. I would have liked my FG in the higher teens. Do you think it's worth pitching an active champagne yeast starter to get it down a few points or would you leave it as is?

 

[robertvrabel]

You are on the high end of FG for sure on that style... if you like it not as sweet, I'd adjust your recipe next time you make it so your FG lands on the lower end, like 15-16. You can just bring down your OG and it'll be around the same alcohol % now that you know you'll get 65%.

With that said, I personally wouldn't add champagne yeast to it. This is what I would do... take a little bit of the beer out into another vessle (like a flask). Add another pack of Safale-S33 yeast. Swirl it every now and then as much as you can. Check the FG of that wort to see if it goes down at all. If it does, pitch that starter into your wort and try to get it going again.

I'd always prefer trying to use the same yeast again, rather than something else. Its worth a shot at least...

 

[GuldTuborg]

Last week? It sounds like fermentation is still going along, albeit slowly. That's completely normal. Give it another couple of weeks in the carboy and take a reading again.

 

[6fiddyv]

I bet transferring it to secondary kicked it back in gear and its still fermenting, should hit high teens, but like Guldtuborg said, its still early. The 1-2-3 rule is only a base, some take longer to get where its going...especially if you just tossed in a pack of S33 with out making a starter.

 

[redalert]

S-33 is dry yeast (no starter necessary). I know it's done because after transferring the airlock did not move. I've been brewing long enough now to know when my beer has reached terminal gravity.

 

[GuldTuborg]

I know it's done because after transferring the airlock did not move.

Doh!

Whatever you do guys, don't let Revvy see this thread!

 

[ksbrain]

I would personally leave it as-is, but if you will hate it being too sweet the whole time you're trying to drink it, then you should try adding more yeast. The thing is, maybe you're out of fermentables? Would champagne yeast help with that? I always thought that was for high ABV yeast failure.

FWIW I also think you might have done better leaving it in primary a bit longer. Different yeasts look different when they ferment. I'm real familiar with US-05, how it looks all throughout the process, but when I used WY1338 I saw how different it could be. Just a thought in case this is the first time you used S-33.

Oh and don't forget that cold and carbonated it will seem less sweet.

 

[kanzimonson]

On a related note, champagne yeast is a terrible choice for fixing stuck fermentations. It's used to ferment grapes, which means simple sugars.

In wort there are a lot of complex sugars, and the yeast eat the simplest first. When you have a stuck fermentation, there are complex sugars left over, and you need the beefiest fermenters out there - lager yeast. With the ability to ferment the most types of sugar that are found in wort, these will help get a gravity down more than anything.

I'm just getting sick of thinking that champagne yeast is the cure-all. It's a chump yeast.

 

[redalert]

"FWIW I also think you might have done better leaving it in primary a bit longer. "

Does it matter? Even if it is still fermenting or will restart then there's enough yeast in the secondary to do the job. Also what if I added a half a pound of sugar? Perhaps the simple sucrose would jolt the yeast into eating the longer chain dextrins? Perhaps I'll do a black and tan and mix it with some other beer to get the sweetness down.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Does it matter?

Maybe yes, maybe no. It's tough to say. A lot of experienced brewers around here tend to state longer primaries make for better beer. Do with that information what you will.

How long was in in primary, exactly? If you have the patience, I'd wager a 6 pack of good beer that leaving this be in the carboy for a month at 70 will get you at least a few more points of attenuation, if not more (unless you mashed super high or used a ton of crystal, which would be odd for a weizenbock anyway). It ain't done.

 

[redalert]

I mashed at 158 which may be a bit too high but 1.023 stll seems high. I'm in no hurry. I was planning on leaving it in the clearing tank for upwards of 2 months anyway. Hopefully the FG will go down because right now the first thing I taste is sweetness and while I didn't detect off flavors or anything, as of now I would not call this beer a winner.

 

[GuldTuborg]

That is a bit high, but you should probably do better than 1.023 after another month or two. Big beers take big time (and 1.070 is fairly big). That's in terms of fermentation time, but also time for flavors to develop and meld. I've made RISs that were nasty at 2 weeks, drinkable at 2 months, and sublime at 8 months. Plus, as another poster said, the sweetness will not be as prominent when carbed and chilled.

Don't sell yourself short and call this a waste just yet; it's really way too early to tell. Good luck and give us all an update after a couple months.

 

[redalert]

That is a bit high, but you should probably do better than 1.023 after another month or two. Big beers take big time (and 1.070 is fairly big). That's in terms of fermentation time, but also time for flavors to develop and meld. I've made RISs that were nasty at 2 weeks, drinkable at 2 months, and sublime at 8 months. Plus, as another poster said, the sweetness will not be as prominent when carbed and chilled.

Don't sell yourself short and call this a waste just yet; it's really way too early to tell. Good luck and give us all an update after a couple months.

Thanks for the vote of confidence I will keep you updated.